LETTINGSnews


DEPOSITS


Tenancy Deposit Protection Five Years On


Five years after it became a legal


requirement to protect tenants’


deposits in the


private rental market, tenancy deposit protection has become an accepted part of all relevant legal tenancies. Now it is forecast that the number of authorised deposit protection schemes may increase both this year and again in 2016 and the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution will be widened. Steve Harriott, Chief Executive


RENTS Rents dip for prime property in central London


New research has show that prime central London residential property


rents fell by 0.6% in the first quarter of the year from £1,043 per week to £1,032. According to the latest


report from Cluttons, this follows the record breaking increases experienced in 2011 which the agent describes as an exceptional period for the capital’s lettings market with quarterly growth well above the long term rate. The research was revealed in Cluttons’ London View Quarter


TECHNOLOGY


Trip Advisor for agents… but different A new service has


launched allowing agents not only to see how their vendors and landlords


rate and comment on each part of their customer service, but also to gain greater insight into the cost- effectiveness of each element of their marketing. Unlike the ‘TripAdvisor-style’ review sites, Agency Intelligence


does not publish feedback on any website, it provides subscribing agents with a clear set of PDF reports, for them to publicise or use internally as they wish. Agency Intelligence works by emailing the agent’s past 6 or 12 months of vendors and/or landlords, asking them to complete a series of questions online. Because it does not therefore rely


on clients being sufficiently happy or unhappy to have the motivation to seek out a review site, Agency Intelligence captures responses from the bigger middle-ground, providing a more representative sample of clients’ views. A respondent can only complete a questionnaire once and only following an emailed invitation – minimising the chances of the


results being skewed by an agent giving himself a blanket 5/5 or a competitor giving 1/5. Charlie Snell, at Agency


Intelligence, says: “We’ve been testing Agency Intelligence and now offer a service that provides agencies with an independent way to measure and demonstrate their service and helps in planning their marketing budgets”.


PROPERTYdrum MAY 2012 43


One 2012 report, which explained that the market is now entering a period where annual rates begin moving closer to the historic trend, although Cluttons’ research also shows that the trend rate of rental growth has increased. Annual growth over the past


five years averages 5.6%, almost twice the long term rate, pointing to the overall improved performance of the rental market. The underlying drivers of the sector would affirm this, with growing globalisation of business in


London combined with the declining ratio of owner occupiers to renters, boosting overall rental demand. Lynn Hilton, (pictured), partner for residential lettings at Cluttons explains: “The remarkable growth in rental values seen last year could not continue and this return to the trend trajectory in values is bringing the market back to a more stable level. “While there is considerable economic uncertainty, we don’t anticipate a drastic reduction in rents as demand is still high, but central London’s tenants will undoubtedly welcome increased choice and negotiating power,” she says.


of the Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS), said,


“No longer is it automatically


believed that private sector landlords will regard the deposits they hold as part of the rent, nor that tenants will withhold the last rent payments for fear of not getting their deposits back. And, both landlords and agents have become much better at managing disputes at the end of a tenancy,” he said. Steve cited the low level of


tenancy deposit disputes of around only 1% over the last five years as evidence.


Meanwhile, the English Housing


survey suggests some 2.75 million households have assured shorthold tenancies and the latest CLG statistics show that some 2.36 million deposits are now safeguarded. Steve Harriott said that this year


the Tenancy Deposit Scheme and mydeposits, are bidding to renew their contracts with government and it is possible that additional schemes will be authorised. Then in 2016 we will see the


re-tendering for the English custodial scheme. This may also, subject to the government’s view, bring more competition to the market place.


YIELDS


North beats south in yields


The first rental yield league table of 2012 has revealed that landlords in the North West have taken the top


spot, achieving the highest average rental yield. Research commissioned by buy- to-let lender Paragon Mortgages, has shown a significant regional shift in the rental yields achieved by landlords. Those achieving the highest average yield were in the North West, generating a yield of 6.6% - an increase from 5.9% in Q4 2011.


The Northern regions dominated the top spots, with landlords in the North East achieving an average yield of 6.5%. Following in third place was the South West with a yield of 6.4% and the East of England with 6.3%. The overall average yield


achieved by landlords in Q1 was 6.2%, an increase on Q4 where the average yield was 5.9%. However, those Paragon landlord customers who took part in the survey reported a higher than market average yield of 7.3%. John Heron, Director of Paragon


Mortgages, said: “The rental yield figure is important for landlords as it gives a good indication of how well a property, and in a wider sense, a portfolio is performing. “We have seen another


interesting shift in the regions taking the top spots, with a more distinct North/South divide in Q1. “Tenant demand continues to grow and fluctuate in certain areas so I suspect we will continue to see movement in the yield table.”


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